According to information released by the company today, both institutions made the switch as part of a push to broaden the capabilities of their learning environments and differentiate instruction to help meet individual students' needs. In addition, the University of Scranton, in making its choice of LMS, focused on hosting options, mobile capabilities, and ease of use for students.

"Desire2Learn provides the foundation to explore new technologies and approaches to better engage our students, including mobile and analytics to improve the overall learning experience," said Estelle Siener, director of academic computing at Canisius College, in a prepared statement.

"Migrating courses from our previous platform to minimize any downtime was a critical consideration. Desire2Learn was the best choice to address this need and offered an already strong partnership with AJCU institutions," said Connie Wisdo, director of IT development and applications at the University of Scranton, in a prepared statement.

Canisius College serves more than 5,100 undergraduate and graduate students on its 72-acre campus in Buffalo, NY. The University of Scranton services more than 5,800 graduate and undergraduate students in on its 58-acre campus in Pennsylvania. Both are part of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, whose membership includes 28 colleges and universities.

About the Author

David Nagel is editorial director, education for 1105 Media's Public Sector Media Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal. A 22-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art and business publications.